Midwest

After looking all over the internet, I have not been able to find another E55 with higher miles than mine. In the next week or so I will roll over to 254k miles. The car still runs perfectly, no ticks, no oil burning, no odd shifting, not so much as a simple malfunction light anywhere. The interior still looks nearly new minus some light wear on the steering wheel. Early this summer it ran 13.8 @ 102.x on bald firestone tires with a 2.1 60 foot and on longer drives will still get mid 20s mpg.
These cars are built like tanks! Do not fear high mileage.

ddb

That is really impressive! How many miles are yours?

Midwest

As of right now, about 8k.. I took a gamble on this car, got it pretty cheap, and so far it has been wonderful. I did have to replace the driver side spring perch, but that only cost me about 80 dollars and 4 hours of my time, and a rear window regulator that cost less than 60 and took about 1 hour. I want to see just how long it will keep going with basic upkeep. I really think I could see 350-400k without much issue.

Solo wing

Beautiful mate! How many times did you service the transmission, wheel bearings, engine mounts?

Midwest

I havent had to yet. I have only put 8k miles on it myself. I do plan to swap out the trans fluid and filter soon, and do a full tune up fairly soon.

desired_speeds

my friends has 200k+ miles seems to drive nice except suspension is a bit worn.

turbo1k

214K Just started to daily drive her again. She had been off the road for 2 years. Just went threw the car and now hoping to get another 100K maintance free miles out of her.

snooozie

I have 230k on mine and I just did 120mph yesterday on I84. A half mile straight stretch of road that I always open up for a little on the way home. I'll probably drive mine till it dies. All I did was changing the oil 4 times a year. I only drive the car three times a week now and never use it in the winter. No rust as the original home was in Georgia.

PelicanParts.com

This is great! Would be interesting to see what people post up as their maintenance they've done/kept up on with the high mileage they're at.

-Luccia

mrobinso

There are threads similar to this in the regular W210 forums that I actually looked extensively through before I purchased my relatively high mileage (163,000 miles) E55. The general consensus is that, if properly maintained and kept up, these cars will run for over 300k miles. I love my E55. The thing is just solid. I say this in the sense that it just goes. Since I have owned it, in terms of maintenance I have replaced myself both front wheel bearings, the idler and belt tensioner pulleys as well as new serpentine belt, replaced all fluids including coolant and transmission fluid (still need to do the brakes), and the thing runs like new.

To the OP congrats on your purchase and welcome to the club. This site is a good resource if you are DIY inclined.

desired_speeds

Here's mine. Doesn't include a few instances where I changed wheels, shocks I got in a trade, etc.

It runs like a champ - took it up to 159 mph not too long ago without any issues. In fact, I wouldn't hesitate to jump in it right now and take it across the country without any prep work!

snooozie

Wow!! Kudos to you desired_speeds....spreadsheet and all. Are you an accountant I had a hard time writing my check # down on my checkbook! That is a well kept car!


Believe me, I had this beast since 2011 and most of the things done to it is more like fun stuff with the mods. Yeah, I did change tires and tranny fluid and plugs and wires, pads etc. but the majority of the things done to the car is trying to get that extra horse and sound on the V8 Many of times I had thought about selling it and getting a newer model like the W212 but it is really hard to part with this beast. My dad's 240D (59 bhp with a 4spd) has a ton of miles on it (400k when I sold it after college) but never like this engine where you can open it up and still beat cars 10 years younger and has incredible mileage on the odometer.

Midwest

I have had to replace very little considering the age and mileage. I did a rear wheel bearing earlier this month, and am doing tie rods this week and over winter I did all of the seals around the oil cooler and filter housing. Those are normal wear items tho. The drivetrain it self is still going very strong. When provoked it will lay down two pitch black strips of rubber and go to pretty much any speed I desire lol. I HOPE I can break into the 12s in the 1/4 mile this summer with it and if things align well, get it out on Road America. It is an AMG after all, and it was built to be driven. I am now at 257k and expect to be in the high 260s by fall.

timmins

How have people's catalytic converters held up over these high mileages? Mine has approx 150K, and started getting the CEL for catalyst efficiency on both banks. Just want to check how likely that is before I pay to get them both replaced.

desired_speeds

Mine are original. The second cats started rattling right before 150k and I gutted them.

Midwest

No issues yet, but the secondary ones are going away this weekend.

timmins

Thanks for the replies!

snooozie

I sold my second cats to some dude on eBay for $150 a couple years ago when I had them replace with straight pipes the guy ask me if they had any good metals in them...I told him they are from an AMG and he bought them the primaries are still original. If they go, I'll replace them with 200 cell metallic.

e55amgkid

im about to buy my first e55 (2001) for 2k with 190,000 miles should I stay away from the car or buy it as soon as possible. I am running on a semi shoe string budget and I dont know if service records exist. I am handy with cars and plan to do alot of the work myself. if anyone knows what to look for when buying or have any advice at all please respond.

illest

get a pre-purchase inspection

e55amgkid

BlownV8

A serious issue with these cars is the degradation of the wiring. I had to totally rewire my headlights since the wire sheath totally disintegrated and the wires were shorting out since they had no covering. Hope the rest of the car does not suffer the same fate.